30/09/2026
New article from the Protone Project !
"The Paradox of Threat: Vernacular Security Governance Among Jewish and Muslim Minorities in Four European States" has just been published open access in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
Based on a survey of nearly 3,600 people and interviews with dozens of rabbis, imams, priests and experts in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain, the study asks a simple but urgent question: how do religious minorities keep themselves safe when they feel under pressure?
What the researchers found:
🔹 Members of religious minorities are 35% more likely to feel their community is a target of hate crime.
🔹 The war in Gaza has been felt directly in Europe's synagogues and mosques. The more people felt its impact, the more targeted they felt.
🔹 And the "paradox of threat": communities that feel more threatened actually report better relations with local police and authorities. Not because things are fine, but because they have no choice but to reach out and build bridges to stay safe.
Behind the numbers are real people. Faith leaders spoke of exhaustion, of carrying their community's pain alone, and of hearing "empty words" instead of concrete protection.
Congratulations to Tahir Abbas, May Tamimova, Irene Trebeschi and Paul Wabnitz, and special thanks to Tahir Abbas and May for their active role throughout the project.
Read it open access:
How do religious minorities proactively manage their safety amid global crises and local hostility? This article examines these dynamics, conceptualized as “vernacular security governance,” among Jew...
